


Heretical Discoveries

by JediDryad



Series: February Fluff: 28 Ways Luke and Mara Get it Together at last. [20]
Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Smut, Research Trip, The Force Ships It, definitely bordering on crack!fic, failure is not an option, february fluff, fuck or mission failure, look at us having a conversation, mysterious missions, the jedi were weird
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:29:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29513226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JediDryad/pseuds/JediDryad
Summary: Luke asks Mara to help him discreetly investigate a mysterious hidden Jedi temple he saw in a vision. Despite her longstanding nervous turmoil where Luke Skywalker is concerned, Mara finds herself enjoying the mission. Then it becomes clear what sort of temple they have found and everything changes.An addition to the Rite-ous Smut Collection.
Relationships: Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker
Series: February Fluff: 28 Ways Luke and Mara Get it Together at last. [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129439
Comments: 11
Kudos: 31
Collections: Rite-ous Smut





	Heretical Discoveries

“Wow, it’s really here.”

Luke sounded surprised as the starlines of hyperspace resolved into stars and the blue-green orb appeared in the viewscreen.

Mara shot him a sidelong glance

“Skywalker. You understand that’s not reassuring, right?”

He shrugged. 

“Following visions always seems weird to me, no matter how confident I sound when I argue for it.”

“I will keep that in mind,” Mara murmured as she finished checking the sensors and settled the Jade’s Fire into realspace over the uncharted moon. She knew there were steps taken to keep habitable places off the star charts. She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised the Old Republic Jedi had some hideyholes they wanted to keep to themselves. She was fairly certain their secretive reputation wasn’t just Imperial propaganda. Still, it was always disconcerting to stumble across one: a reminder that there were still many mysteries in the galaxy, many ways in which she could be surprised.

Surprises weren’t always welcome.

One surprise she was already facing on this mission was how strangely comfortable it felt to have Skywalker in the cockpit next to her. She hadn’t expected that when he’d approached her for her assistance, telling her he needed to explore a jedi temple off the books. He’d flattered her ship and her ‘discretion.’ With anyone else, she would be suspicious of their hidden agenda and pack an extra weapon or two. With Luke, she was pretty sure he wanted exactly what he’d asked for.

She approved of his plan to get away from Yavin for a bit, and she wondered if he’d been pushed into it by Organa Solo. Anyone with more than a passing acquaintanceship with the jedi master had watched him look more tired and detached over the past two years. Whether it was the burdens of the academy or the broken heart he couldn’t seem to mend, a change of scenery was likely a good idea for him. Besides, she hadn’t been spinning tales that time she told him she sometimes almost liked seeing him. She did, and more than it would do her any good to analyse.

The four days bouncing around hyperspace as they travelled to the coordinates in his apparent vision seemed to rejuvenate him a bit. While he’d started off solemn and aloof, he’d seemed to relax as they’d journeyed further from home. It was as though he had suddenly had space to breathe. He walked a bit taller, his smile was less shadowed. He even laughed at her wry commentary. 

It made sense. Even jedi masters needed vacations, she supposed. 

And he was a reasonable hyperspace companion for the most part. He cleaned his mug. He did his fair share in the galley. He granted her space. He took his watches. She knew he would love to actually fly the ship but that wasn’t going to happen, and he clearly understood that asking was pointless.

He did have a disconcerting habit of training shirtless in the hold, which she had found more affecting than she’d expected on the occasions she needed to interrupt him, but nothing was perfect. It was hardly his fault that she’d clearly been derelict enough in attending to her own sexual needs that the mere sight of a well formed torso was enough to cause all sorts of inappropriate ideas to flood her mind.

Those weren’t his fault. They were remarkably hard to shake though. Every night she found herself waking up hot and breathless from strangely erotic dreams. If that pattern continued, she would soon start to feel the impact from the loss of sleep.

Still, he was unexpectedly easy to travel with. Had he always been so? Mara tried to think of the last time she and Luke Skywalker had gone somewhere alone together. All she could think of was the Skipray trip to rescue Karrde from Thrawn, and she’d been in no state to appreciate his companionship then.

She watched him check the nav info, like a good co-pilot should, fingers dancing expertly across the standard report readouts, brow furrowed as he diligently confirmed their status and destination.

Mara was generally of the mind that it was better to do things right yourself than to invite others to do them wrong, but a reliable, competent co-pilot definitely made things faster and smoother, and Luke was definitely competent. She really could have used him on other missions.

Of course, she had never invited him to join her on any missions or excursions. She’d never imagined such an invitation would really be welcome. He’d always seemed too busy with his duties, and she didn’t really feel like being rejected. 

Issuing an invitation to Luke Skywalker as the woman who’d once wished for his death with every fibre of her being always seemed fraught. Even though she knew she’d conquered the impulse to murder him, and even though he seemed to trust her, he must still see that darkness in her. He would be too polite to say anything of course, so he’d make up some carefully worded excuse not to see her.

Mara would prefer a firefight to a politely condescending rebuff, so it was best just not to ask.

She settled the Fire smoothly into the clearing Luke had established as the best option, and together they’d covered it with her state-of-the-art camo net. She was proud of that net. Even if someone ran smack into the ship, they’d be hard pressed not to think they’d just run into a rock, or tree.

Luke seemed suitably impressed, or at least politely appreciative of her acquisition. He waited patiently while she checked to make sure the whole ship was covered. Her heart fluttered oddly when she realized he was watching her with a smile. She wasn’t sure what to make of that.

Eventually, she was satisfied with the coverage and told him to lead the way.

They set off with lightweight survival packs.

The forest was tall and dotted with clearings, like Myrkr. In fact, as she followed along behind Skywalker, all she could think of was those early days. In some ways, he was just as much a mystery to her now as he had been back then.

He glanced back over his shoulder at her, as though he could tell her mind was churning.

“Why do I always wind up picking my way through the woods when I’m with you?”

He chuckled and her heart fluttered again.

“Is there a different terrain you would prefer?”

She wrinkled her nose thinking of the other unappealing options.

“Not really, actually. It’s just a thing I’ve noticed. You don’t pick missions to the heart of Uscru.”

A raised eyebrow, a wry twist to his lip.

“There were remarkably few jedi temples in Coruscant night clubs.”

“Pity. Their recruitment might have improved if there were.”

His grin became unrestrained.

“I’ll consider it.”

Then he took a deep cleansing breath and let it out slowly.

“Do you sense it?”

His gaze was distant. This must be a test.

Mara took her own deep breath and reached out to the Force. She realized she felt a pull, like a magnet or a tractor beam.

“I know where it is.”

Luke grinned again and nodded at her.

“Let’s go then.”

They walked for an hour before the pull grew stronger and they relaxed into the understanding that they were definitely moving in the right direction. Sure enough, the terrain changed bit by bit. There were piles of rocks that looked like they’d been placed by sentient beings and signs of a path that had once been a road. This had not always been the uncharted wilderness it appeared. The forest took its space back fast, but not without leaving signs of civilization.

Sure enough, they were eventually drawn to a vine covered entrance. It looked a bit like a cave, but, upon closer examination, was revealed to be an intentional archway.

Luke pulled out his lightsaber to slice through enough of the vines that they could enter, and then at Mara’s urging, he led the way.

“What is it you’re expecting to find here?”

“I’m not sure. Tionne said she kept finding references to a place out here. The references implied this group of jedi were different. They’d broken away from the main order. I meditated on it and came up with the coordinates I gave you.”

“I feel like we’ve seen a number of those breakaway orders groups the years.”

He nodded. 

“If I’m going to put the jedi order back together, I figure it helps for me to try to find out about the different ways it changed and broke apart over the generations, so I’m not surprised by that happening again.”

“Do you really think no one can surprise you?”

He paused and, this time, his smile was rueful.

“Okay fine, so I’m less likely to be surprised by it.”

They stepped through another archway like the first and found themselves suddenly in a bright room. Light shone in through rows of narrow embrasures 30 feet above them, illuminating various sculptures and statues. Water gushed down an aqueduct half way up one vine covered wall, following a circuitous path through a number of stone openings before pouring into a refreshing looking pool. The pool appeared to drain outside somewhere, all of it clearly diverted from a spring in the forest. The rushing sound was almost hypnotic.

“This doesn’t look anything like the underground labyrinths you’ve told me about.” 

“It’s not,” Luke agreed. “I don’t think we’re in the temple yet.”

“Great, a hidden door.” Mara muttered to herself. 

Luke chuckled sympathetically. In an unspoken agreement, the two of them took a side of the room, looking for hidden openings or latches. As she moved among the sculptures, Mara began to notice a theme. The first statue was of two Rodians. She could tell from their multifaceted eyes. As she drew closer, she realized they were locked in an intimate embrace. The next one she passed was of a group of three humans, similarly occupied. The expression of the central figure made it clear the experience was highly pleasurable.

Mara felt a blush rise on her cheeks as she realized that all of the statues were the same: beings of various species and various numbers, pleasuring one another with a sort of wild abandon that ran counter to everything she had ever associated with the notoriously dispassionate jedi.

“Luke, what is this place?”

“I guess this is what the texts meant by ‘heretical’.” His face was red.

“You brought me to a jedi sex temple? Without warning me?”

She placed her hands solidly on her hips.

“I didn’t know.” He was insistent.

“I said I was counting on your discretion.” 

“No, you said you wanted to go for a ride in the Fire.”

“I think I said both.”

Mara closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the nearest sculpture, and then pulled back when she realized she was leaning against two Twi’leks engaged in mutual oral sex.

“Well I can see why they kept this place way off the register.”

“It’s not like Jedi had to be celibate.”

Luke was defensive.

Mara snorted.

‘Wouldn’t know that from your example.”

Luke’s expression was calmly sardonic but she felt a hard twitch in the Force.

“How do you think we get in?” he asked, firmly changing the subject.

No sooner had he asked the question, then the light in the space shifted: a stone tablet at the end of the room had become illuminated. Somewhere above, a mechanical process was triggered and a bell rang.

“What just happened?” 

Mara was wary.

“I think the Force heard our question.”

“No wonder beings thought Jedi were creepy.”

“Is that what they thought?”

The twitchy defensiveness was back.

“No one likes to have their mind read, Skywalker.”

He frowned, and she found the notion that he might argue with her exasperating.

“Would you like someone reaching into your mind and pulling out thoughts you weren’t interested in sharing?”

“I suppose not.” He conceded, “Not without permission at least.”

“Exactly, and who’s going to give someone else permission to dig around in their brain?”

Luke’s look was pointed.

“Maybe someone who’s having difficulty finding words for what they want to say.”

Mara met his gaze evenly.

“Not worth the risk.”

He nodded and seemed oddly deflated as he turned and led the way trepidatiously towards the stone tablet. It was a white block of marble, smoothed to a shine that seemed to endure despite the obvious abandonment of the space. A ribbon of intricate carvings ran around the base. It sat about waist high and Mara wondered what it reminded her of.

“Do you think it’s a test?” She asked.

“Most likely.” He still sounded upset.

Mara did a circuit around the tablet looking for levers or buttons or instructions.

Nothing. 

She got down on her knees to see if there was anything down low that she hadn’t noticed the first time, and as she glanced back up at the room, she saw it.

Luke gasped at the same time.

Mara stood up in horror. The empty marble tablet was an exact match for the rest of the pedestals in the room, and those pedestals were occupied by the erotic sculptures. She had a sneaking feeling that they were intended to occupy this one.

She turned to see shock on Luke’s face.

“Touch the altar,” he said with a gulp.

An altar he called it. She knew it was true. As her fingers grazed the cool stone, a wave of sensation washed over her. She could see and feel hundreds of beings, dozens of species engaging in acts of pleasure on this tablet. It was remarkably more tantalizing than she would have expected.

Shaken, she pulled her hand back.

“Kriff.” She gasped, staring at Luke.

“Yes, that’s what I think they intended.”

Mara was not to be humoured.

“Oh, you think, Skywalker?”

She glared at him as she felt her heart pounding in her chest. She couldn’t shake the sudden mental image of entwining herself with the man across from her. It was more appealing than it should be.

“You tricked me.” she snapped.

“No tricks” He was clearly insulted. “I asked you to come check this place out with me. Now that we know what obstacles we have, we can leave. I can send someone else. Corran and Mirax, or...”

He turned and walked back towards the entrance. Force, he looked good walking away. She remembered watching him leap at the bolts shot by the training remote, his form precise. Perfect.

“Wait!”

He spun around and, from the shock and embarrassment still flooding his face, she had no doubt he’d been as surprised as her by the demands of this mission. She hadn’t expected him to just give up though. That didn’t seem like him.

“Why are you so upset about this?”

Luke shook his head a moment.

“What?” He was confused.

“Does the idea of kriffing me horrify you so much?”

He looked at her like he just might want to strangle her.

“It certainly appears to horrify you.”

His voice was cultivated calm and control, obviously artifice.

“I just don’t like the Force telling me to do things.”

The surface calm cracked.

“Oh I am well aware of that.”

Mara frowned, dissatisfied with his response.

“Okay… well… good then.”

He nodded absently and straightened his shoulders, mind clearly churning.

“So, since you don’t like the Force telling you what to do, and I know that, I assumed you would want to abort this mission and leave it to a pair of jedi who are better... suited to this…” 

He waved his hands in the air a bit helplessly “- sort of...expectation.”

It was absolutely the right thing to do. She couldn’t fault Luke for his decision in the least. And yet it was utterly unappealing. She thought of the way his fingers curved around the armrest on the co-pilot’s chair. She remembered the way her heart fluttered and heat shot to her centre when she glimpsed him walk from the fresher to his guest cabin in nothing but a towel.

If he wasn’t horrified by the idea then...

“So you don’t think you could show me a good time?”

He blinked and his jaw fell open as he regarded her in silence for a moment. He clearly had not expected the dare. Then he closed his mouth, sighed deeply and shook his head lightly as if to clear it. When he met her gaze again, there was a confidence in his eyes that took her breath away.

“Actually,”

He crossed the room back towards her slowly. 

“I’m fairly certain I could. But I figured you wouldn’t want the Force to determine what that would mean for us.”

She tracked his steps as he closed in on her and raised her chin in defiance.

“You think the Force gets to decide that? I think we get to decide that.”

“And what would it mean?”

He backed her up against the stone platform. She was flooded again by the images and feelings of its previous inhabitants. Their emotions resonated with her own. Luke took a deep breath and boxed her in with a hand on either side of her. She could feel the heat his closeness generated.

“I don’t think I really care what it might mean right now, I just want you to kiss me.”

“Very tempting,” he murmured. He leaned in and pressed his forehead against hers.

She closed her eyes wondering where all her defenses had gone.

“Here’s the thing, Mara.” he spoke softly and she strained to hear him over the sound of her heart in her ears, “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”

That shocked her out of her lust filled haze.

“You never said anything.”

He took her hands and pulled her away from the altar and the influence of the other jedi.

“You might not realize this, but you’re not the easiest being to have a heartfelt conversation with.”

She smiled ruefully. No she realized that.

“I would have thought you’d be up to the challenge.”

He shrugged.

“You left the academy and didn’t exactly pop by for visits.”

He thought she’d rejected him?

She thought of her realization that she’d never invited him places even though she’d wanted to. Of course he would see it as her not wanting to spend time with him instead of her just being afraid he didn’t want to see her.

“You never seemed to want to spend time with me.” he continued, “I didn’t know how to ask.”

She remembered his assertion that he would like to have his mind read, of how sometimes it was hard to find words.

“I assumed…” he continued.

“Stop!”

She cut him off and pulled his face to hers. When their lips met she felt a sigh of pleasure ripple through the room as though their kiss brought joy to more than just them. Luke’s lips softened against hers, his arms folding her close, his heart beating solidly against hers.

“We need to stop assuming things.” she murmured as they broke for breath.

He nodded against her forehead.

“I want to spend time with you.” she confessed before the courage of the kiss drifted away. He closed his eyes and smiled.

“I don’t think I’m ready to be a jedi. I’m still…”

He tightened his grip on her,

“I’m still struggling with darkness. I’m afraid you see it when you look at me - my threats, my nightmares.”

He shook his head against hers.

“I don’t see that at all.”

He pulled back and looked her squarely in the eye.

“You don’t have to be a jedi ever if you don’t want to be. Just - just don’t stay away from me because you think that’s what I want from you. I just want you.”

He’d claimed he couldn’t figure out what to say, but his words were exactly right. She felt their warmth flood her and seal the cracks she’d put in their relationship in her heart: cracks he’d never intended to be there.

“I love you, Luke.”

He let out a whole bodied sigh of relief.

“Oh good, because I knew I loved you when you crashed at the Katana battle - and I knew I could never figure out how to tell you.”

Mara felt her eyes go wide.

He’d loved her then? He’d loved her while she’d hated him and pledged his demise?

Luke nodded, and she threw herself in his arms again, kissing him with a passionate abandon she didn’t know she was capable of.

She nipped at his lip.

“Let’s get you into this temple.”

“You sure?”

“Yes,” she breathed, and she felt him lift her off the floor as he buried his face in her neck, lips drifting up to her earlobe, his breath hot against her.

He set her down next to the altar and slowly helped her disrobe as she tugged his clothes off.

Once they were both naked, he gave her a boost onto the tablet, hands warm and firm on her hips, like a prelude. Her heart was pounding as she laid back on the cold smooth surface, feeling again the draw of its past occupants. Somehow, she knew there was a set of expectations here. Guided by the Force, she laid her hands at her sides, her legs slightly apart. She turned to face Luke expectantly.

His gaze was rapt as he surveyed her body, spread out for him, waiting. His face flushed. Mara wondered if it was possible to orgasm from a glance alone: a shared thought

We could work towards that.

His voice was soft in her mind and she chuckled and nodded. It was easy to let him in now, now that she knew there was nothing to fear for either of them.

Yes, they could work towards that, but for now, right now, she needed him to touch her.

She whispered his name, needy; and he was on the altar in a flash, knees on either side of her legs as he slid his fingers slowly up her body. He explored her with the same exquisite dexterity she’d witnessed on the Fire, and she whined with arousal as she arched into his touch, damp heat growing at her centre. Her breathing sped up as the dappled light fell across his body, as his too long fringe fell into his eyes. She moaned as she watched him bite his bottom lip and trace his fingers across the planes of her stomach and then drift them up her rib cage. He leaned forward and captured a nipple in his mouth and she arched against him again, sensations shooting through her as he used his lips and tongue to work her into a frenzy, referring pleasure across her body. When it seemed like it could not possibly get better, he switched to the other nipple and started over again.

If she’d been told that morning that by midday she’d be driven to the edge of madness by Luke Skywalker’s hot mouth on her breasts, she would have stunned the messenger on principle, but as she squirmed under his ministrations, writhing under the weight of him pressing her into the solid altar, she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else or with anyone else. 

He moved against her: his lips finding hers as he slid against her body, his heat at her front a potent contrast with the cold marble at her back.

Mara moaned Luke’s name again and it echoed through the room as he sank inside her with a groan of his own.

The room seemed to receive their cries as an offering, augmenting their sensations, weaving them into a tapestry of carnal devotions. As Luke pressed Mara into the altar, the marble seemed to receive them, softening around their bodies as though the heat they created was enough to melt the stone.

A heady feeling took hold as the pleasure of joining with the man she loved filled her with joy. There was nothing in the galaxy but Luke. His hands touching her, his arms holding her, his muscles flexing under her fingertips; his length filling her again and again, drawing her closer to some goal she didn’t understand but knew she would reach with him. He sped up and she opened to receive him, hips matching his thrusts, inner muscles tightening around him.

Luke found her lips again and nipped at them as she reached her pinnacle and exploded with ecstasy around him. She called out his name as her spasms drew him to his own orgasm and he spilled inside her. 

The marble grew as hot as they were and suddenly gave way beneath them, dropping them through the top of the altar onto a soft surface about a meter and a half below.  
For a moment, they barely noticed, arms still clutching each other, chests heaving against one another as the aftershocks of their pleasure rippled through them.

Then Luke raised his head from Mara’s shoulder and glanced around.

“Where are we?” she murmured huskily, wondering if she really cared at all. Luke was warm against her. Wherever they were, they could stay for a bit.

“I think we’re inside the temple.”

He slid out of her and sat up, pulling her close and kissing her cheek as she looked around.

They had landed on a bed near the ceiling of the underground room. There was a flight of stairs down from the platform to the space below.

Together, they rose from their bed and, arm in arm, walked down the stairs to the floor below. 

The underground room was as spacious as the courtyard above it. One wall was filled with shelf upon shelf of datacubes: a whole history of this group of Force users.

The space was also dotted with beds and chairs, platforms like the ones up above, and a selection of ropes and slings, and other pleasure seeking equipment easily associated with the sexual needs and preferences of various cultures and species.

“It really is a jedi sex temple.” Mara murmured as Luke’s arm tightened around her.

“I think there will definitely need to be a follow up investigation of this place.” 

Luke grinned, “Likely more than one.”

Mara nodded sagely as she considered which set of toys they should explore first.

“I concur. I think you should send Kam and Tionne next.”


End file.
